Fast Cycling for 25 Gallon Tank.

This is a discussion on Fast Cycling for 25 Gallon Tank. within the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
I'm getting a 25 gallon tank on Friday! Whoo-hoo. I'm SUPER excited as this would be the biggest tank I've had (I CAN GET ...

I'm getting a 25 gallon tank on Friday! Whoo-hoo. I'm SUPER excited as this would be the biggest tank I've had (I CAN GET A PLECO!!) and I can now have a nursery/breeding/hospital tank instead.

I'm not gonna lie. I've NEVER cycled my ten gallon.

EVER.

Even with that I've spent less than $100 on fish in the past year and a half. And that happens to be a lot of fish, and 2 fry drops.

What I wanna know is the fastest, most reliable method yall have used to cycle tanks. I've read things about putting ammonia right into the tank (doing that scares me!) and I think someone here on the boards put fish food in their tank to cycle it. I do have test strips, but I'm probably gonna have to get more.

I am getting this tank on craigslist and it comes with a 5 gallon heater, hang-on-back filter, fluorescent light fixture (w/ bulb), air pump, reversable backround & tank lid.
Will I have to get a bigger heater?

I'm not sure about the wattage, but I'm pretty sure I'll need a larger one.
I've read that keeping the light on during the whole process and keeping the heater at 80-85 will make it go faster
Will doing these things make my cycling faster?

If you go with the fishless ammonia cycle, feel free to ask any questions. I or someone else will try to help.

The biggest mistake with the fishless cycle, is adding to much ammonia and killing the cycle, And I have been there and done that.

After doing a water change to fix my mistake, I added enough ammonia to raise the tank to 4 ppm, then left it alone till ammonia dropped down to 1 ppm. Thats when I started adding ammonia daily. Some of the stuff you read about fishless cycles can get comfusing, but its really pretty easy.

Another method I have heard of (never used) is droppin g a frozen shrimp in the tank and letting it decay. Does the same thing as the fish food.

If you want the fastest, the ammonia cycle is the way to go. And don't be afraid, lets say one time you add too much ammonia, it's not like you have fish in the tank to kill or anything. And it is in small amounts, here's a link to the different methods. Note that these may not be the best forms of each, but it gives you an idea.